By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    improving patient experience
    6 Ways to Improve Patient Satisfaction Within Hospitals
    December 1, 2021
    degree for healthcare job
    What Are The Health Benefits Of Having A Degree?
    March 9, 2022
    custom software development is changing healthcare
    Digital Customer Journey Mapping and its Importance for Healthcare
    July 21, 2022
    Latest News
    Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
    May 16, 2025
    Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
    May 16, 2025
    Choosing the Right Supplement Manufacturer for Your Brand
    May 1, 2025
    Engineering Temporary Hospitals for Extreme Weather
    April 24, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Can Thinking Younger Make You Live Longer?
    April 20, 2011
    Image
    Obesity’s Outlook Unchanged
    June 13, 2011
    When It’s An Emergency Elderly Not Treated As Well in Hospitals
    July 16, 2011
    Latest News
    Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
    May 18, 2025
    The Critical Role of Healthcare in Personal Injury Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide for Victims
    May 14, 2025
    The Backbone of Successful Trials: Clinical Data Management
    April 28, 2025
    Advancing Your Healthcare Career through Education and Specialization
    April 16, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: How Medical Prototyping Is Revolutionizing The Way Medicine Is Practiced
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Technology > Medical Innovations > How Medical Prototyping Is Revolutionizing The Way Medicine Is Practiced
Medical InnovationsTechnology

How Medical Prototyping Is Revolutionizing The Way Medicine Is Practiced

Rehan Ijaz
Last updated: January 2, 2022 9:02 pm
Rehan Ijaz
Share
9 Min Read
SHARE

Innovations and advancements in precision machining have made CNC machining and rapid prototyping essential methods in the production of life-saving medical devices. The multi-axis CNC machining technic can answer the requirement for precision, repeatability, and consistency in the medical industry. 

The use of prototyping gives doctors, designers, and patients an innovative road for creating a physical representation of the desired design to test its usability quickly. The produced medical devices and models find an indispensable application in many areas in the industry, from planning treatment for complex surgery procedures, surgical simulation, and training, to diagnosis, and design, and production of implants and medical tools.

With that in mind, let us see the most common prototyping methods this industry uses and the most prevalent medical models that can be produced. 

CNC Machining and Rapid Prototyping: Which is Better?

More Read

technology healthcare
Technology Makes You Soft
Data-Driven Exercise for the Disabled
Meaningful Use Top 10 – iHT2 Special Report
Health Start-Ups! – The Internet of Things Creeps into Healthcare
New IV Bag Designed for Relief Workers Can Sterilize Water

Parts and components processed for the medical industry usually require high accuracy, quality, and consistency. What is more, they must also be durable, and with a smooth finish. So in this respect, CNC machining is the best method to achieve and satisfy all the industry requirements, simply because these machines operate on multiple axes. As a subtractive manufacturing process, with CNC machining, a solid piece of raw material is carved into a desired 3D geometrical shape through the use of a controlled material removal process. This process relies heavily upon the use of machine tools in addition to power and hand tools. CNC machining allows for precision part replication and consistency in even the most intricate designs, surfaces, and versatile materials, which makes the CNC parts it machined with better features. 

Rapid prototyping (RP) is another technique commonly used in the medical industry to create working prototypes from 3D models. Product designers apply RP, especially in the early design stages, to generate relevant feedback for the design team, decrease development time and costs, encourage potential product enhancements, and foster better customer satisfaction. This method of production allows for extreme flexibility in the design and cost-effective production of complex parts. The RP process is considered more efficient (than CNC machining) in both time and labor, but the material selection is still limited. Furthermore, this method of production is highly accessible, so nowadays you don’t have to invest in your own equipment to start a project. Rapid prototyping is now available online, and you can order the prototypes or custom items you need in an instant. 

Even though rapid prototyping is often considered only as a 3D printing application (which is an additive process), manufacturing methods that rely on CNC-controlled machines are also part of this technology. So, as the advancement of innovations swiftly improves both techniques, in time, they come closer and closer in capabilities and performance, which makes the selection process increasingly difficult. Therefore, it is best to combine their strengths – where possible, to get the best value out of the process.

Spheres in the Medical Industry Where Prototyping Plays an Essential Role

Manufacturing Medical Devices

Prototyping technology is used both in the designing and manufacturing of medical devices. Additive technologies are especially prevalent when the devices need to be specifically individualized for a particular patient. However, the industry uses RP not just in manufacturing customized devices. From a simple product like a scalpel to surgical fasteners, retractors, and even more complex ones like a heart rate monitor, all can be produced using this technique. And it is so because rapid prototyping allows us to change the design, movement, and add new functions to improve the product’s efficiency without compromising its precision. Using virtual simulation, we can predict even minor errors in the medical devices in the early stage of the product development and amend them before using the model or device on a real person.

What’s more, the future of medical instruments prototyping includes an interactive designing mechanism. With the rise of augmented reality, experts can virtually interact with the equipment to see how it performs in real-life situations,  experiencing the product’s size, shape, and dimension in a real-world environment and making changes simultaneously.

Creating Dental Implants

When it comes to dentistry, rapid prototyping is widely used to develop precise dental implants, dental aligners, or tooth crowns that fit each particular patient individually. With the help of the new 3D imaging technologies, dentists can provide an accurate picture of the patient’s treatment plan. However, when it comes to the production of these dental products, CNC machines are the best bet. The reason is that CNC can be programmed to get the exact product dimensions that will perfectly fit a patient with minimal discomfort. What is also interesting is the fact that prototyping can also be used to understand the deformities in teeth, re-positioning, or abnormal growth, which can further help the dental surgeon to identify the exact issue and work on it in the best possible way.

Prosthetics and Implants

Rapid prototyping is also used by orthopedics to create a replica of bone damage, dislocations, and repairing progress. The additive prototyping approach is perfect for creating 3D models of human organs to find the exact complexion and the right surgical procedure. Before RP, prosthetics were designed using the standard measurements of damaged organs. However, that took a significant amount of time to create the final prosthetic, and any small error could lead to redesigning from scratch. Since the introduction of the medical prototyping, designing prosthetics has become much faster with little to no errors. Doctors can take the perfect measurement of the damaged part of the body, and 3D printers can process it to create the prosthetics with the exact size and dimensions. For example, patients whose requirements are outside the standard scope or those who require unique treatments can now get customized prostheses that fit them at an affordable cost. Importantly, as we already mentioned, rapid prototyping allows for changes to the prototype easily. Doctors are in a position to create the final prosthetic that fits the size, dimensions, and color that looks like the exact body organ. Whether it is cosmetic or surgical implantation, rapid prototyping has made it much cheaper, more comfortable, and reliable. For example, a standard method used for medical purposes is the CT scan used in the hip replacement surgical procedure. Here, data from the CT scan is combined with engineering data to join to the bone. Through the use of CNC machining, the data is turned into a plastic model (implant) that fits perfectly and lasts longer for the patient.

Medicines

In the medical industry, prototyping is frequently used to determine the size, shape, dosage form of pills, and their chemical compositions. It is also the best method to predict the potency of the medicine and its effect on a human body before mass manufacturing. Furthermore, the new technology has improved the safety of drugs to patients by minimizing the adverse drug reactions that may arise.

Final Thoughts

When designing a new medical device, the initial idea often goes through several iterations during the design and development process to get to the final design. Consequently, the final design can be significantly different from the original sketched-out idea. For this reason, prototyping is crucial to achieving a final design that is functional, practical, cost-effective, and adheres to regulations. What is important is that medical prototypes are helping medical practitioners be of better service to patients without the long turn over or risks in experimentation.

TAGGED:medical prototypingprototyping
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Clinical Expertise
Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
Health care
May 18, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Health
May 15, 2025
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Health
May 15, 2025
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction heart treatment
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction
Cardiology
May 13, 2025

You Might also Like

Liposuction Patients Donate Fat to Stem Cell Research at UCLA

November 1, 2011

Spit Happens! Genentech and 23andMe Team Up to Advance Genomic Testing in Clinical Trials

August 25, 2013
startups-2011-2013
BusinessTechnology

Recent Clinical/Technology Distribution of Medtech Startups

May 27, 2013

Designing a Health App that Works

April 13, 2011
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?